THE Welsh Pony Improvement Society runs under the rules of the Welsh Pony and Cob Society.

In April last year the society presented a Welsh pony to Catherine Zeta Jones for her baby son Dylan, now two.

The actress said she was "completely overwhelmed" by the gift of prize-winning Highland Jinks.

The Welsh Pony and Cob Society usually only gives ponies to royalty.

But on that occasion the society made the gesture to honour the Swansea-born star's role as patron of the #5m Noah's Ark Appeal to build a children's hospital for Wales.

ONE of Wales' best known native animals could be under threat.

The Welsh mountain pony has been a welcome sight on the hillsides of Wales for thousands of years but today its numbers are shrinking.

It is difficult to say how many of the ponies now survive, but there may be around 1,000 spread across the country, at locations including the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons.

Colin Thomas, secretary of the Welsh Hill Pony Improvement Society, said numbers were now a fraction of those of 30 years ago.

"They are dwindling all the time," he said.

A survey in 2000 estimated that there were just 800 breeding mares in Wales.

Mr Thomas explained that the only way to retain the hardy characteristics of the breed was to keep them on the hills.

Pony improvement societies across Wales have been offering incentives to encourage people to keep the ponies, and keep them on the hills. But that funding is now threatened because grants from the betting levy board will end next year.

And the introduction of EU passports for all horses is also likely to impose further costs on those who keep the ponies.

Mr Thomas warned of dire consequences if the breed is not supported now.

"Once we have lost that gene bank we have had it," said Mr Thomas. "We will never replace it."

Brecon Beacons National Park ecologist Paul Sinnadurai said the ponies were distinct in that they were smaller and "prettier" in appearance than other ponies and were able to eat larger, rougher vegetation than sheep could manage.

"They are responsible for part of the ecology we have got in the park - especially on the open hills and the farmers have always known that," he said.

"There is evidence that there have been Welsh mountain ponies on the hills for at least 3,000 years.

"They have been here longer than most populations. Generally farmers keep them because they love them - they are part of their own history," Mr Sinnadurai said.

There are concerns that the extra costs of the horse passport scheme in particular could cause some people to abandon their animals.

"Because the ponies are not agricultural animals the farmers will have to pay for them," he said. "If they cost #20-25 or upwards it would cost more than those ponies can be sold for on the open market. There is no incentive then to keep them.

"The worst case scenario is that they may be forced to abandon them."

A National Assembly spokesperson said last night that the new European Commission directive intended to "ensure that any equines intended for the human food chain have not been administered with non-approved veterinary medicines during the previous six months and assist in tracing animals in disease outbreaks".

He said the principle of horse passports was well understood by breed societies and organisations who would be issuing the passports.

"The Welsh Assembly Government is committed to making further legislation on the registration of equines. It is currently exploring ways to do this which includes consideration of ponies on the hills," the spokesman said.